Hitter, Hacker, Thief, Baby
by rmonroe
Summary: Nate and Sophie have a baby. That baby is adored by her adopted aunt and uncles, and fluff and hi-jinks ensue.
1. Chapter 1

Basically, this is an excuse for me to put Eliot and a baby in the same room and for Eliot to be a huge sap about it. :) You can expect a couple more chapters. Thanks for reading!

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Sophie handed the baby to Eliot first.

After greetings and hugs had been exchanged between Nate and Sophie and the crew they'd taken their leave from more than a year ago, all eyes were glued on the tiny bundle as Sophie lifted the baby from the car seat and pulled back the blanket to reveal her round face. Then she passed the infant to Eliot.

He took her gently, fearfully, and stared into her sleeping face. He was lost.

She was only three weeks old, had been in this world just twenty-one days. She was innocent, untainted by the ugliness and difficulties of life, and his hands, the hands that had created, and torn down, and been elbow deep in that ugliness, were cradling her now. It was more than he'd ever thought he deserved. And he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that ugliness never touched this beautiful little soul.

"What's her name?" His voice barely constituted a whisper.

"Leonora," Sophie replied just as Nate said "Amelia."

Eliot glanced up, just for a second, to raise his eyebrows at them.

Sophie frowned. "We haven't quite settled on that yet."

Parker and Hardison immediately chimed in with name suggestions, but Eliot's attention was back on the little one in his arms. He watched her chest rise and fall with little huffs of breath and imagined how small and delicate her lungs must be. He brought her in close to his chest, holding her with one arm so he could touch her fingers, hair, ears with his free hand. He discovered that people weren't kidding when they talked about how good newborns smell.

He realized that Hardison and Parker had crowded in at his elbows just as fascinated by the little girl in his arms as he was.

"You know," Nate was saying. "This is the longest she's gone without crying since she was born."

" _That's_ not true," Sophie protested. "But she is being surprisingly well-behaved."

Eliot could practically feel Parker's grin as she said, "Maybe she feels at home."

Eliot felt a smile tugging at his own lips and fought it down. It was bad enough that he couldn't take his eyes off the baby, he didn't need to be grinning like an idiot too.

"You gonna let her meet the rest of the family?" Hardison asked, and Eliot realized he'd been holding Leonora/Amelia for a while.

"Watch her head," he grunted, begrudgingly transferring her to Hardison.

"Hey, baby girl," the hacker crooned, his voice going up an octave. "You an' me, we gonna have so much fun when you get big. Hackin', and watchin' all the classics with me an' Parker, and –"

"If you talk like that to 'er, how's she gonna learn to talk like a normal human being?" Eliot said, slightly abhorred.

"Why you always gotta be hatin'?" Hardison said, his voice back to normal. "I wouldn't expect you to know, but babies hear higher frequencies better than low ones. She probably can't even hear your deep, grumbly voice!"

Eliot frowned, deeply disturbed. That couldn't be right, could it? Hardison didn't know anything about freaking babies.

"She can hear you, Eliot," Sophie said gently.

"But he's not wrong," Nate chimed in. "Babies respond more readily to higher pitches."

Damn know-it-all.

"My turn!" Parker exclaimed, practically snatching the baby from Hardison. There was a collective wince. Parker's motor skills were so far advanced from normal people that it seemed sometimes like her movements were reckless but Eliot had learned that everything she did was purposeful and she never dropped or fumbled anything. But it was still a bit disconcerting to see her waltzing around on her toes with the baby perched seemingly precarious in the crook of her elbow.

"What's she going to be like?" she wondered aloud. "She be anything. She could be like a little evil mastermind like Nate or she could be a baby grifter or I can teach her to be a thief, or even something normal like a _doctor_ or mail-person. She can be _anything_. She's so…"

"Lucky?" Hardison finished for her.

Parker smiled up at him, her eyes glinting suspiciously. "Yeah." She stopped moving and stared at the baby. "You are so, so lucky, tiny human."

Eliot wanted to kick himself. He felt like his heart was being pulled straight out of his chest and it was somehow involving his tear ducts.

"I knew this would happen," Nate grumbled half under his breath. "They're claiming her and now she'll never grow up normal."

Sophie patted his cheek. "What on earth did you expect?"

Eliot sniffed - in a manly way - and held out his hands again. "My turn," he said gruffly. Nate was exactly right. They had claimed her as part of the family. She was theirs and they were her's.


	2. Chapter 2

"C'mon Nora!"

"You got this, baby girl!"

"It's easy, c'mon!"

Leonora Amelia stared at them blankly and kept her hands firmly placed on the coffee table.

"It's just a few steps," Parker said, waving one of the baby's toys in what she hoped was a tempting manner.

"Sophie said she's done it before," Hardison said, kneeling next to Parker.

"She just needs proper motivation," Eliot said, getting up and heading into the kitchen.

Nora whined and dropped to all fours to crawl after him.

"Nora! Come back!" Hardison called after her.

But before she could get too far, Eliot returned with a slice of watermelon from the fridge. "Put 'er back," he directed Parker.

She put the toy down and stood to grab the baby from the floor and prop her up against the table again.

Leonora's lip stuck out and her eyes watered at the betrayal. Uncle Eliot had watermelon and he wasn't giving it to her?

"Hey, Nora," he said gently. "No tears, you just gotta come get it. You can do it, darlin'."

He crouched down a few feet away from her with Parker and Hardison, their attention riveted on the eleven month old.

She started at them, her round, blue eyes full of tears and then glanced at the slice of watermelon Eliot was holding out. Her tiny bare foot took a hesitant scoot toward them on the wood floor.

"That's it! You got it," Hardison said, his voice low and intense.

She gained a little courage and took a couple steps along the table, one hand still gripping the wood.

"C'mon, c'mon," Parker said under her breath. All of them were frozen in place.

"Come get it, baby girl," Eliot said, extending the watermelon just a fraction.

Leonora stared at it, her round eyes narrowing in concentration and her mouth set in a little frown.

Then, while they watched with a collective held breath, she let go of the table, tottering just a fraction but quickly finding her balance.

"She's doin' it!" Hardison hissed needlessly.

The baby kept her focus on the prize in Eliot's hand and lifted her tiny foot, scooting it toward them. She remained steady and took a bigger step, and then another, and one more before toppling into Eliot's outstretched arm.

The room erupted with shouts of triumph. Hardison punched the air and cried, "Yes! You did it, baby girl!"

And Parker let out a loud laugh and jumped up. "Good job, baby!"

Eliot gave her a tight hug, grinning, and held the watermelon out to her, but to their surprise she looked up and promptly burst into tears.

Eliot handed the watermelon off to Hardison and gathered her up. "You guys scared her," he growled, glaring over her head.

"We scared her? You're the one that made her do it in the first place!" Hardison exclaimed, hovering anxiously.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Eliot muttered, stroking her hair.

"We were just excited, baby," Parker said, by way of apology.

Against the comfort of Eliot's shoulder, little Nora was quickly calming down. Hardison extended the watermelon to her and Parker produced her blankie from somewhere, both of which she accepted with a sniffle.

"What are you doing to the baby?" Nate demanded suddenly, coming into the room.

They looked up a little guiltily. "Nothing!" Parker said.

"She's just showing us she can walk," Hardison said.

Nate looked at them, an amused smile growing on his face. Then he crouched down and looked at Leonora. "C'mere, you little scoundrel."

She grinned a mostly toothless grin and pushed away from Eliot, practically running over to her father.

Her aunt and uncles stared.

"Did she just..."

Nate grinned and kissed Leonora, who was happily sucking on her watermelon. "She's been walking for weeks," he told them.

"Are you kidding me?" Hardison exclaimed. "Why was she freaking out?"

Nate looked at her thoughtfully. "Looks like she knew exactly what she was doing to me."

Eliot frowned and shared a look with Parker and Hardison. "She's not even a year old yet."

"And she's already masterminding us," Parker said.

"We are in so much freaking trouble," Hardison added.

Leonora just grinned innocently at them.


	3. Chapter 3

**More shameless Eliot cuddles. I have a weakness, sue me. ;)**

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"She's never getting to sleep now," Sophie said in despair, watching her two-year-old jump gleefully on the couch with Parker.

Eliot was standing by, making sure the little girl with long dark curls didn't fall. "Just wearing her out."

"Aren't you on vacation anyway?" Hardison said from his vantage point in one of the chairs. "Let her stay up."

Nate rolled his eyes, enjoying a quiet cup of coffee from the table. "I think I hear the sound of you volunteering to babysit all day tomorrow when she's tired and grumpy."

Hardison started to backpedal but Eliot broke in. "C'mere, Monkey," he said, sweeping the giggling toddler into his arms. "Where's your pjs, huh?"

"I'll get them," Sophie said brightly, the appeal of someone else taking care of bedtime evident.

Eliot swiftly got the little girl changed without - much to Nate and Sophie's surprise - even a whimper or a pout. The mysterious powers of Uncle Eliot were a sight to behold.

Hardison popped a Disney movie in after Eliot convinced Leonora to let him brush her teeth and they all settled in.

It was possibly because she liked being as close as possible to the screen, but more likely an assertion of her independence that the little girl got out of Eliot's lap as soon as he sat down on the couch and wandered over to the middle of the floor. They were only halfway through the movie before she started to list sideways. Her desire to stay up and continue watching was strong and she kept sitting herself back up and rubbing at her eyes, until Eliot slid off the couch to sit next to her, cross-legged on the floor.

"Nora," he said softly, waiting until she looked back at him. "I got your blankie."

Her face lit up and she scooted over, grabbing the soft yellow blanket and rubbing it against her cheek. Eliot took advantage of her proximity and lifted her onto his lap. She leaned back against his chest after a moment, and when he tucked the blanket around her she couldn't resist the pull of sleep anymore.

Eliot shot a triumphant look back at Sophie. "Told ya she was tired," he whispered.

She rolled her eyes but included a fond smile. "Take her pigtails out or her hair will be a disaster in the morning."

Eliot looked down at her little head. "Parker," he whisper shouted in the direction of the chair Hardison and Parker were sharing. "Come do it."

Parker frowned. "Why me?"

"'Cause you can do it without waking her up," he explained impatiently, still in a whisper.

Parker sighed and climbed out of the chair, coming to sit on the floor next to Eliot. She took stock of the clips and bands that held Leonora's hair up, and then deftly removed the clips, pinning them to the sleeve of Eliot's shirt. When she started in on the tiny plastic bands, Eliot frowned.

"Careful," he whispered. He knew just how much it hurt to get your hair pulled.

Parker huffed and ignored him. She was always careful. She got the tiny rubber bands out of Leonora's soft, fine hair without disturbing a strand.

"Want me to lay her down?" Nate offered quietly.

Eliot looked down at the little girl against his chest and shook his head, scooting back so he could lean against the couch. "No, I got her."

"I think she's got you," Sophie offered quietly, a hint of humor coloring her words.

Eliot shrugged. As it turned out, he was totally okay with that.


	4. Chapter 4

It's fall break at the school where I teach so finally got some time to write! Yay! I hope you enjoy woodsman Eliot and his teeny counterpart. :)

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"Eliot, where are all the deers? You said there were going to be deers," Leonora Amelia said from her booster seat strapped in the back seat of his truck.

He glanced in his rearview mirror for just a second to catch the puzzled frown undoubtedly crinkling her forehead. He loved it when she made that face. It made her look like a smaller, much cuter version of Nate when he was thinking really hard about something. "Keep your eyes peeled, darlin'," he encouraged. "You'll see some."

She huffed, but kept her big blue eyes fixed on the trees sliding past the window. He glanced once more at her, taking in her messy dark curls and tiny arms folded across her bright pink shirt. He'd _told_ Sophie to pack dark colors that she wouldn't care about getting dirty, but apparently the six-year-old owned no such clothes. At least the bright pink would make her difficult to lose in the forest.

"Sometimes princesses can talk to animals," she informed him after a moment. "I watched a movie with Hardison 'bout it. Right after we watched Ponies. You know what?"

He realized she was waiting for a response. "What?"

"Fluttershy can talk to animals too. She takes care of them. If Fluttershy were here she could talk to all the animals and tell them to come out and say hello and then I can see them." She paused for breath. "Eliot, can you ride deers?"

He chuckled. "If you could catch one, I guess you might be able to. But honey, wild animals aren't to play with. If you see one, you just look. Especially a moose. You know what a moose looks like?"

"I know what a moose looks like!" she said, sounding offended he would doubt her.

"Well don't get anywhere near one, okay? They're not nice, and neither are bears."

"Hardison told me about all that stuff. He said we were crazy for wanting to go camping where there's stuff like bears and porcupines and badgers and bats. Are we crazy?"

"What have I told you about listening to Hardison?"

"Don't do it?"

Eliot grinned. "That's my girl."

They made it to the campsite without any deer sightings and Leonora was sorely disappointed until they found a chipmunk eating someone's leftovers in the fire pit. The little girl squealed but Eliot caught her arm before she could run toward it.

He crouched down next her and spoke quietly in her ear. "He's gonna run off if you scare him. We're in his home so we're not gonna bother him."

She stilled and watched as the little creature stuffed his cheeks and scampered out of the fire pit. She giggled as it finally noticed them and darted up into the nearest pine, chattering angrily.

"He's talking to me!" she said. "What's he saying?"

Eliot grinned and kissed her head. "Probably tellin' us to go away. Come help me unload and we'll make a fire."

They set up the tent. Rather, Eliot set up the tent while Leonora followed him around asking endless questions about forest animals and the trees and bugs. He was happy to answer them. It's why he'd brought her camping in the first place and why he planned to do so every summer until she was grown. Some of his best memories from back home were the camping and hunting trips he'd taken with his dad and brother. In fact, he'd been Leonora's age the first time his dad took him into the woods.

Leonora was delighted with the tent. They spread out their sleeping bags and she plopped down on her bright purple one with a contented sigh. "This is really cool," she sighed happily. "It's like a little house!"

He sat next to her on his own sleeping bag and pulled one of her curls. "Aren't you glad you didn't listen to Hardison?"

She laughed, the gap where she'd recently lost a tooth evident. "Yep. You think Bertrand could come live in here with us?"

"Uh… who?"

She rolled toward him, propping her head up on her hand. "My chipmunk, silly!"

Of course. "I don't think he wants to come in here. He lives in a tree."

She stared at him wide-eyed. "I wanna live in a tree!"

They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire much to Leonora's delight. Eliot could've put something a little better together but he wanted her first camping experience to be authentic. Besides, she loved hot dogs.

After dinner Eliot built up the fire and they sat in their camp chairs watching the flames as the night settled in behind them.

"I wish Bertrand were here," Leonora sighed, her eyes half-closed.

"He probably is," Eliot assured her, stirring the fire and sending sparks of light into the darkness.

They watched in silence for a few more minutes and the next time Eliot looked at her, her eyes were nearly closed and she was slumped way down in the chair.

"You ready for bed, darlin'?" he asked quietly.

She nodded.

"You go get your pj's on and I'll put out the fire," he said, reaching for the bucket of sand next to the fire pit.

She slid out of her chair and he fished the flashlight out of his pocket to give to her which woke her up a little. She loved getting to use his flashlight.

Eliot spread out the remaining coals and sprinkled sand over them, remembering again that first camping trip he'd taken with his dad. His father had been a large man, broad like Eliot but taller, and he'd knelt side by side with Eliot and blew on the smoldering tinder until the bigger logs started to catch. Eliot had thought it was magic.

By the time he got back to the tent, Leonora was already ensconced in her sleeping bag, the flashlight clutched in both hands.

"Eliot? How much batteries does this have?" she asked the question casually, but Eliot could hear the slight waver in her tone.

"Enough to last all night," he assured her.

She nodded but her eyes were still wide and afraid. Eliot remembered something else his dad had shown him.

"C'mon," he said, standing as much as the tent would allow and holding out his hand. "I gotta show you something."

She crawled out of her sleeping bag and grabbed his hand tightly, still holding the flashlight with the other hand. He picked her up when they had stepped out of the tent since she was barefoot and walked with her to the center of the campsite before his hand closed around hers and turned off the flashlight.

She gave a little squeak of dismay as the darkness of the forest closed around them. "Nora," he said gently. "You ever seen the stars?"

"Duh," she said, fear momentarily forgotten at such a dumb question.

He smiled. "I mean seen _all_ the stars. You can't see 'em from the city."

There was just enough light for him to see the puzzled frown on her face again as she looked up at the sky. They stared for a long moment before she looked at him again.

"There's so _many_ ," she said. "It looks like my sparkle skirt."

Eliot wasn't sure if he should be amused or distressed by that comparison, but he was glad she didn't seem afraid anymore. It had worked with him. He remembered his dad teaching him about the constellations and the Milky Way to assuage his own fears forty years ago. He remembered the feeling of safety and awe looking up at the stars in the quiet of a forest night, his father's arms around him.

"Can we stay here forever?" Leonora whispered, still transfixed.

"I wish, darlin'," he said. "I wish."


End file.
